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“We have a plebiscite close, which does not divide us between friends and enemies,” warned Pastor Emiliano Soto in the only clear reference to the plebiscite of October 25 that took place in the evangelical Te Deum that was held yesterday and attended by President Sebastián Piñera, along with other government authorities. The ceremony this time was held at the headquarters of the Alianza Cristiana Misionera church in Las Condes and it was much more sober than in its versions of previous years in its traditional location of the cathedral on Jotabeche Street, in Central Station. It had a tone and a form far from other occasions, such as that version of 2017 in which the fiery preaching of the shepherds uncomfortably alluded to the then President Michelle Bachelet.
Although the speech of Bishop Emiliano Soto –recognized as being closest to the opposition– avoided contingent politics, the truth is that the dispute between the options of Approval and Rejection with a view to the constitutional referendum in October has already been installed in the world of the Protestant faith. Not only that, the campaign is already fully deployed since last week.
“Bear in mind that you are the ones who can make the difference about this election, especially because of the moral values that you can transmit to people who believe that this is being lost”, words of Monday, September 7 and that correspond to Fernando Cerimedo, director of the Argentine polling station Numen, which last week published a poll conducted among 18,000 people and in which, regarding the plebiscite of October 25, 53% of the people would vote Rejection and 47% Approve.
Cerimedo’s message was just what the more than 20 representatives of different organizations wanted to hear that day by Zoom to launch the platform “Evangelicals for Rejection.” On the occasion, dark omens were heard about what could happen if the option of Approval is imposed in October, such as that the process “is spurious and illegitimate and those who promote this change are promoting violence and undermining freedom,” according to said Pastor José Lema, from the Evangelical Union. Along the same lines, Belarmino Silva, from the Evangelical Network of National Unity, warned that “freedom is in danger, we want them to keep this contract for us.”
All the organizations that participated in the meeting, such as the Christian Conservative Party, the Christian Social Vanguard or the New Time Christian Party, expressed an apocalyptic perspective regarding a new Constitution. Among the participants, the phrase “Reject to reform” was repeated too many times, a line that coincidentally coincides with the public campaign that political forces such as the UDI and half of RN, who lead the campaign for Rejection, have deployed.
The village used
As has happened for a couple of years now, Renovación Nacional is the right-wing party that has been concerned with strengthening political ties with the evangelical world and it is known that its deputies, Eduardo Durán Salinas, Francesca Muñoz and Leonidas Romero, are active representatives of the so-called “evangelical bench”. But now, that coordination has intensified and points to electoral work with a view to Rejection in the referendum.
Deputy Catalina del Real – part of the RN parliamentarians for Rejection – participated in the interview program with Pastor Hédito Espinoza, one of the most combative figures in the crusade for values against laws such as the Civil Union for same-sex couples or the one that allows abortion in three causes. “I am not an evangelical, but as a Catholic we have found coincidences in value terms with the Evangelical Church, especially when there are people within our party who have expressed themselves for the Approval,” said Deputy Del Real.
However, according to Daniel Rozas, one of the spokesmen for “Evangélicos por el Rechazo” – the organization that was born from churches based in La Pintana – relations with political parties are cut off. “We are aware that historically we have been used, but now we have no one to defend us. Lavín and Longueira want a new Constitution and, from our point of view, Pablo Longueira and Camila Vallejo have no difference. The important thing, beyond of colors, is to keep God at the center of society. Today precisely one of our goals is to show the people that we have been wrong in our relationship with politicians. We need our representatives, “Rozas stressed.
The spokesman for “Evangelicals for Rejection” spoke of the widespread fear that prevails among the evangelical hosts regarding the new Constitution affecting them directly. “There is enough evidence to sustain that one of the elements that we want to touch on is the Law of Worship. There are certain laws, such as the Zamudio Law or the Gag Law project (which seeks to sanction the denial of the dictatorship), which seek to somewhat restrict freedom of conscience, freedom of expression. Precisely, our freedom of conscience, our freedom of worship is the manifestation of our belief. If they restrict that freedom, which in practice translates into worship, we are not talking about an assumption, but about concrete evidence ”.
Although the group “Evangelicals for Rejection” affirmed that they are independent and that they will welcome all organizations or parties that adhere to their values, it is easy to find coincidences with the Republican Party of José Antonio Kast. One of its vice-presidents, María Gatica, is an evangelical and, according to the Kast party, the approach to the evangelical world is “long before this electoral process.”
The academic, doctor in History and specialist in ecclesiastical issues, Marcial Sánchez, stressed that José Antonio Kast is a key figure in the political position that evangelicals who are going to vote for Rejection are expressing. “There are two key characters, one is Kast, who is telling them that there has to be Rejection, that they are going to lose religious freedom. That is why there are sectors that have approached Kast. The other is Pastor Durán’s son, Eduardo Durán. He works with a team that are true promoters of the Rejection, because they are convinced that the Approval is going to discredit them. One thing has nothing to do with the other. They are involved in a political game of lies and truths ”.
Relationships cut off
In the political game, the Durán clan is down since the patriarch, Eduardo Durán Castro, generated a strong controversy motivated by his luxurious lifestyle as leader of the Jotabeche cathedral and that definitely fell out of favor with his faithful when he found that he had an extramarital affair. On June 24, the Supreme Court settled a factional dispute over control of the cathedral – and indeed the hefty monthly tithe paid by the faithful – confirming Duran’s removal.
Although his son is still linked to Chile Vamos, he no longer has the same arrival in La Moneda, particularly with the National Office of Religious Affairs (ONAR), which depends on the Segpres. The rupture is, in any case –according to a source of the organism–, in both directions. Although Pastor Jorge Méndez, close to Durán, still remains as part of the instance, relations are in a terrible moment.
“When Durán fell, relations with the Government were severely weakened, because the Government became unmarked. In addition, President Piñera supported the laws they were opposed to, he signed the Gender Identity Law. Later, the deputies of the evangelical bench stressed the Government by voting in favor of 10%. The Government sanctioned and fired Patricio Moya, who was one of the Te Deum of 2017 against Michelle Bachelet. There is clearly a break. Client relations were broken, ”explained a member of the ONAR, recalling that Moya publicly complained in a video about her disengagement in mid-July, pointing directly to a vendetta of the then minister Claudio Alvarado (UDI), for failing to align the evangelical deputies against the project to withdraw 10% of the pension funds.
That is one thing and another is to say that clientelistic relations are over, because these practices are inherent in the governments of any coalition. Evangelicals, according to the last Census, are estimated at 3 million people, almost 20% of the population. This volume is divided into some 3,500 churches of different denominations, which in practice represent highly disciplined voters – in most cases -. Therefore, relations with this world cannot be cut so easily and completely.
For example, in the Subdere, in a key position facing the next elections of regional and municipal authorities, works Eleonora Espinoza, an RN activist and daughter of pastor Hédito Espinoza, one of those who carries the banner in favor of Rejection and who has come to occupy the place in popularity that remained after the fall from grace of Durán Castro.
Half true
Esteban Quiroz, lawyer and spokesman for the other side, “Evangelicals for Approval”, does not believe that the evangelical vote is as disciplined as it is thought, because in the churches there are many people and each one votes in conscience. “There is a lot of caricature and that. It is part of the instrumentalization that comes from 1974, when the Council of Pastors who supported the dictatorship was created, which gave them the visibility of the Te Deum in exchange for making the other Protestant churches that fought for Human Rights invisible ”, he explained.
Another illustrative data is that, of the 20 candidates for evangelical deputies who stood in the last parliamentary election, only 3 were elected. One of them, Leonidas Romero, thanks to the drag on the new electoral system.
Quiroz’s sayings coincide with an open letter released at the beginning of September by a group of 25 evangelicals –among laity, pastors and shepherds–, some of whom worked on the drafting of the Law of Worship, who asked the faithful to “vote conscientiously in the ongoing constituent process, continuing our historical tradition in favor of religious pluralism and freedom of thought and religion, without allowing ourselves to be frightened or paralyzed by terror campaigns that announce the end of Freedom of Religion and other similar calamities ”.
Quiroz recalled the once powerful Bishop Javier Vásquez, from the Jotabeche Cathedral, Eduardo Durán’s mentor, who “also said that if he won No in 1988, freedom of worship would end. But religious freedom is a human right that belongs to all of us. It’s too broad, it’s guaranteed, and it’s part of most of the constitutions in the world. This is a campaign of terror that has no grip on reality or experience. Basically what they are doing is scaring the evangelical people, using arguments that have to do with intimate issues. But they do not mention other value issues that involve the Christian faith, such as consumer abuse, bribery, inequality ”.
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